When Li Erlang saw his daughter, he touched her little head and praised her: "Dad wasn't home these few days, thanks to you for helping take care of my younger siblings!"
Lin, who was cutting vegetables on the chopping board, heard her daughter's call and ran out with a knife in hand.
Suddenly I saw my husband, who looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes, which showed that he had not slept well.
At this moment, Mrs. Lin didn't know what to say. Seeing that her husband seemed to have lost a lot of weight, she immediately said, "Are you hungry? There's a chicken stewing in the kitchen. We'll be able to eat soon!"
Li Erlang looked at the knife in his wife's hand that she had no time to put down, nodded with a smile on his face, and looked at his wife with burning eyes.
These days, I have been busy sorting out plans in the county government office, or secretly visiting shops in the city with adults. I am often busy until late at night and I am extremely exhausted.
He didn't notice how busy he was during the day, but when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, he couldn't sleep at all even after a busy day, as he was always thinking about his wife and children at home.
Lin felt a little jealous under her husband's direct gaze, and suddenly turned around and said, "I'm going to cook!" Then she ran away.
Li Erlang watched his wife walk away, but did not follow her. He turned around and said a few words to his daughter, then went to the room to check on the sleeping child.
The baby in the cradle is pink and tender, sleeping soundly with his hands clasped together. His mouth moves from time to time, as if he is dreaming of something delicious.
Li Erlang stood beside the cradle, sometimes he admired his son, sometimes he touched his daughter, he couldn't see enough of them, he wanted to make up for all the missed days.
When Mrs. Lin came to call her husband for dinner, she saw this scene: her husband was squatting beside the cradle, looking at the two children with gentle eyes, as if pouring infinite love into them.
Lin walked to her husband's side and said softly, "Didn't you say you were hungry? It's time to eat!"
Li Erlang suddenly stood up, hugged his wife, and whispered softly in her ear: "I saw that they were quite well-behaved when they fell asleep. Have they bothered you these days?"
Lin was suddenly embraced by her husband. Her face flushed red and she moved shyly, trying to open her husband's arms: "Let go quickly, the door is still open! Be careful that Yan'er sees us."
Li Erlang buried his face tiredly in his wife's neck. The familiar scent of his wife seemed to relieve his fatigue. After a while, he said sullenly, "Don't move. Let me hold you for a while!"
Lin seemed to have sensed her husband's fatigue, so she stopped struggling and gradually relaxed her body.
When the voice of Mr. Li was heard from the main hall, Li Erlang let go of his wife. The couple came out of the house one after another. If you pay attention, you will find that Lin's cheeks were red at this time, and she lowered her head to go to the kitchen.
"Second son, the caravan that came to our house today said that the refugees have been properly resettled. Please tell your father where they have been resettled. Is it stated in the official documents?" When Mr. Li heard that his second son had returned, he immediately came over to ask.
The merchants hadn't explained the matter clearly, and he was still confused. How did the refugees get a place to go? Who on earth had such ability?
He was also afraid that it was a trick used by the county magistrate to appease the people under his rule. The more Mr. Li thought about it, the more uncomfortable and panicked he became. So when he heard that the second son had returned, he simply came to ask in person!
Li Erlang was in no hurry to talk about this matter. He invited his family to eat first: "Dad, this is a long story. Let's talk about it while we eat!"
At this time, Lin and Li Xiaomei brought the food over.
Because Mr. Li wanted to know what was going on, he did not refuse his son's suggestion and found a seat to sit down.
"Those refugees were all arranged to become military households? The imperial court had to come up with such an idea in order to avoid paying money and food!" Old Master Li said while sipping chicken soup.
"Looking at the current situation, the imperial court probably can't come up with so much food and grass all at once, but we can't just ignore these people. We might as well allocate them to General Qin as military households, so that they can grow some food for the army when there's no war!" Li Erlang explained.
"We have already missed the spring planting season. These more than 30,000 people can at most plant some crops like beans. It will cost a lot to provide relief to these people during this period!" Old Master Li was quite worried about the general!
The Li family father and son were chatting idly, but Li Yan's mind couldn't help but drift away because of their conversation.
Unlike the south where rice cultivation has become widespread, the food in the north now mainly consists of cold-resistant and drought-resistant crops such as wheat, corn, and highland grains. It is rare to see people growing rice here.
The reason is that the north is dry and rainy. Except for the summer when the temperature is suitable for rice growth, the temperature in early spring and autumn is still too low. In addition, every household only has a few fields, so who would dare to experiment with the food that their family depends on for survival?
Li Yan had never explored other areas, but she had never seen rice grown in Rongcheng.
Li Yan couldn't help but think of this matter in her mind. Because their Rongcheng is low-lying, the snow water from the mountains passes through their Rongcheng, and the water conservancy conditions are much better than other places.
If water conservancy measures are implemented and ditches are built, it will not be impossible to grow rice next year.
One reason is that the yield of crops such as millet and soybeans is too low. People work hard for a whole season, but the better fields can only yield two stone of grain per mu, and other medium-sized fields can only yield a little more than one stone.
Such a harvest can only be achieved if the weather is good and the people work hard in the fields.
If you plant rice, the yield per mu is indeed much higher than that of planting corn and sorghum. Generally, one mu of land can produce about three stones. If the water and fertilizer conditions are good, it can reach four stones.
Although it is possible to transport grain from the south to the north, it is not as reassuring as growing it by oneself. After all, if you want to transport grain from the south, the prerequisite is that there is grain to be transported in the south.
Li Yan shared her thoughts with everyone present.
"What? You said you want to grow rice?" Mr. Li has been farming for most of his life, but has never grown rice. He asked again uncertainly.
Li Yan nodded and told her grandfather about Rongcheng's low-lying terrain and the advantages of rice cultivation. She also emphasized the yield of rice per acre. "Grandpa, let's give it a try."
I was attracted by the per-acre yield my granddaughter mentioned, but since I had never grown rice before, I was still hesitant: "I heard that rice likes heat, but it's still very cold here in spring. Will the crop survive if I plant it?"
"Don't worry, sir. We won't sow seeds directly. Instead, we'll use the transplanting method to cultivate the seedlings first. Once the seedlings have grown for a while and the weather has warmed up, and the seedlings have survived, we can transplant them into the rice fields. That way, they will naturally succeed!"
Old lady Li had never heard of such a planting method, but she was very excited when her granddaughter said that the yield would be twice as much as the current one.
"How about giving it a try next year?" Mr. Li couldn't help but ask.
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